Way before acoustic blah (e.g. MYMP and their ilk) came to pass, acoustic guitar-toting minstrel Noel Cabangon found his niche in the rising local underground scene in the mid-'90s. His "Kanlugan", now better known as a McDo commercial soundtrack, zoomed to the top spot at The Doctor's Sunday countdown of 50 alternative hits at the old, lamented 105.9 FM. It was a mean feat given that the competition consisted mainly of strident punk and death metal miscreants from nowhere.
The radiant spark of an unlikely hit in a volatile time catapulted Noel Cabangon somewhere above ground. In fact, he eventually found mainstream acceptance on the heels of his first underground hit while maintaining a low profile, playing the usual bohemian haunts from '70s Bistro to Conspiracy to campuses and the occasional dive.
In recent years, Noel's above-ground mainstreaming got a big boost when he signed up with Universal Records, a local label that boasts of its own roots in maverick indie vis-à-vis the likes of Warner or Sony Music. His debut for Universal in 2009 entitled Biyahe was a collection of OPM standards remade in the atypical acoustic pop of a seasoned folksinger.
His latest in 2011, Panaginip, ramps up his folkie leanings with pop and jazz tendencies, with lots of help from a full band and orchestral treatments. Noel says that the making of the album was inspired by Sting's performance with the Royal Philharmonic in Berlin.
On the album sleeve, Noel gets more practical noting that he was surprised by the success of his previous album for Universal Records. He felt instant elation then. He also expressed guarded optimism that he might not be able to match, much less surpass, that initial achievement.
Four of the 15 songs on Panaginip are renditions of decade-old classics. The novelty of his jazzy samba reworking of the opening track, "Bulag, Pipi, Bingi", 2nd Metropop grand prize winner for its composer Freddie Aguilar, wears thin midway through the song. Meanwhile, Noel's jazz fusion take on Lolita and the Boys' "Tag-ulan" reprises in temperament and mood the bluesy ballads of Batucada as well as Miskha Adams.
Despite the triumph of his all-covers album, Biyahe, Noel Cabangon still faced up to the challenge of the songwriter for his own compositions to be heard. He says, "There's a need to compose fresh original compositions. We have to move forward and write more songs.
"As songwriters, we need to challenge ourselves into creating a brilliant concept and to become brilliant songwriters. For the songs in this (new) album, I kept looking up to the elegance of hit tunes."
The pop-rocking luminescence of ""Umuulan sa Tag-araw, Umaaraw sa Tag-Ulan", obviously about climate change, feels like a brand new shift of pace for the folksinger. No matter, its catchy hooks live up to the melodic attraction of Noel's parade of prior hits.
"Dahan Dahan Lang" takes off from the briskly strummed guitar-pop of Bic Runga and K T Tunstall. Still, it's one more hit with a bullet in album aching to be heard.
On the flip, a wicked ballad entitled "Awit ng Naghahanap" wallows in the sad fate of those left behind by desaparecidos. It's another instance where Noel ably connects one of his advocacies, protection of human rights, with harrowing everyday language couched in quietly unnerving music.
Noel Cabangon is surely on a roll. The greatest original hits of his brilliant career are yet come.
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